Memories
by MissPoe
Summary: Isabel's stepsister gets badly injured. follow her through her memories of her own childhood that have shaped the woman she has bcome.


Title: Memories

Fandom: Alias

Disclaimer: I do not own anything…

Season: Post season 5 (final season)

Summery: Isabel's sister gets hurt and whilst she waits she remembers how they got to that tragic moment, the first time the two stepsisters meet and the other memories that lie in-between.

Pairing: Sydney/ Rachel

Characters: Slone is a) not evil and b) ergo he did not die, Jack never died, as for Thomas, he a) got Rachel pregnant before he died and b) did not die around the season final but died seven years later and Vaughn never came back, therefore no baby Jack.

Isabel looked down through her tear-strained eyes to the motionless girl that sat in the seat next to her whilst they were inside the helicopter. They were flying home to the city of Lost Angeles from a place not far from Seattle. Gripping the girl's hand, Isabel sat trying not to remember how her sister wound up covered in her own blood whilst on their mission for APO.

It had been years since Sydney had worked for APO but Isabel had worked there as soon as she had a chance. She told herself she done it to make her father proud, she did it for her country, for the adventure but what she did not admit was that she did it to make sure that her sister did not get hurt.

Isabel tried to make sure that Max never got hurt, but she had failed. She had gotten distracted with something else and did not see the dark figure until her had swung a bat at Max. _I am her adviser and her sister for Christ sakes!_ _This should not have happened_, Isabel thought.

Trying to forget the sight of the near-fatal blow on the screen, as it played out like it was a movie sequence that was in black and white, trying to forget the motionless figure that she picked up off the cold and blood stained tiles, the way Max's body moved with each hiccup in the helicopter ride, and the way her mother, her team would look at her when they found out she was the one that cause her sister so much pain.

Blinking back the tears and the anger she felt towards herself, Isabel looked over every inch of Max's body. She became relieved to notice that her pulse was even, and the blood was becoming an ooze-like substance. Matching her breathing to her siblings, Isabel begun to remember the day she meet her child-like sister.

"_Rachel?" Sydney asked as she pulled her daughter further into the room where countless other ex-agents who had worked with her all those years ago, currently occupied the large hall. Isabel had grown in the years since she had lived in Los Angels, her naturally straight brunette hair was put into curls for the evening, and pushed back away from her eyes into a couple of small clips. Her eyes that were similar to her fathers although they shone with boredom, and her figure was remarkably similar to the one her mother had once-upon-a-time. _

"_Sydney" a blonde-haired person exclaimed as she pulled the brown-haired woman into a hug. It had been eight years since they had laid eyes on each other, and eight years of no communication and it silently killed them both. _

_Not knowing what so say next as they moved apart, Sydney remembered her daughter, "Rachel, this is Isabel. Isabel, you might not remember but Rachel lived with us for quite some time when you were little" _

"_Hi" Isabel replied, welcoming any distraction since she did not really want to be there in the first place. _

"_Hello," Rachel responded, "my daughter is here too but I'm not sure where she ran off to. I swear, I think I might get Marshall to put a tracer on her". The blonde-haired woman laughed to find herself instantly beginning to look around before Sydney's father came towards them. _

_After a long embracement and re-introductions to the whole team, Sydney and Isabel had both become more relaxed as they talked to familiar faces. "Have you seen my mother?" a small blond girl asked, as she tugged onto the hem of Sydney's dress and looked up at her with bright blue eyes. The tiny girl whipped her tired eyes with her fist as she attempted to put sleep into the back of her mind and get her blond curls away from her face for a while. _

_Crouching down to the seven-year-old, Sydney wondered if this was in fact that daughter that Rachel had gone looking for with Marshall's two sons and her eight year-old daughter. "What's your name?" _

"_Max, what's yours?" the girl asked, letting out a puff of air and she rolled on the balls of her heals. _

_Sydney instantly knew that this girl was defiantly Rachel's. She remembered the way Rachel used to do the same thing when she was tired and refusing to fall asleep. She missed the days when she would see the blond, but some things she hoped to change in her visit, and she hoped that was one of them. "Sydney" _

_The tiny eyes that were once filled with sleep and determination to stay awake burst open and shone with awe, respect and familiarity. "You know my mom! She used to work with you" she exclaimed, gripping onto Sydney's arm to make sure she didn't loose her balance as she jumped with glee, "she says you were and still are the best agent in the company" she said the last part in a matter-of-fact tone. _

"_Well I'm not sure about that, but why don't I help you find her?" Sydney asked, as she stood to her full height. The tiny girl gave Sydney a pout similar to her own daughter's as she held out her tiny hands. Giving a questionable look to the younger girl, Max held out her arms knowing that Sydney was trustworthy. By the time they reached the other side of the room, Max had fallen asleep on her shoulders. _

_As Sydney approached the small group she noticed how casual and natural it looked as Rachel knelt to the kids height and had Isabel on her knee and her arms around her body along with Isabel's arms around her neck. It seemed as though they knew each other and were quite close. _

_Sydney heard a former lab technician comment on how wonderful it was to see Isabel grown up and that the man did not think that Isabel had kept in contact with Rachel. She also overheard the man he was talking to say that they did not keep in contact but it looked as though they had the same no-need-for-words bond that Rachel and Sydney used to have. The comments made Sydney smile. _

"_Hey, I found your daughter" Sydney told Rachel as the woman rose to her full height and the kids looked up at the newcomer with interest. _

"_I wonder where she went for the night" Rachel mused. Seeing that Rachel wanted her child back, Sydney moved closer. However the girl did not want to leave the candy-smelling haven in Sydney's arms and put in a small wine of her discomfort. Rachel could not give off an aura of sadness, as she was quite proud that her daughter could sense that Sydney was safe and that she was comfortable. _

_Sydney however, gave Rachel an apologetic smile, to which Isabel raised her eyebrows at the gesture. Shortly after, Sydney was being told about all the things that Isabel had discussed with them. She was quite amused that the blond haired-woman had so much in common with the kids, but left it to the fact that Rachel did in fact have a child. _

_A couple minutes in deep conversation about the new blockbuster cartoon that was currently being shown at the movies, Max had woken up and demanded that she see Dixon to discuss "career opportunities". As the tiny girl left them, Marshall joined the group in her place. _

_In the time without Max in her arms, Sydney noticed that her arm and Rachel's had a tendency to come into close contact even though there was no reason to touch because Max was no longer in Sydney's arms. Rachel grabbed a glass of wine from a waiter for both her and Sydney as Marshall got himself another beer. _

_Daring each other with their eyes, both women soon found themselves drunk and unable to stand up straight without the other by there side. Sydney wondered if this was her opportunity to tell Rachel her feelings, and let herself loose for the night as she knew that her father was taking Isabel to his place after the party. Leaning close to the other woman, Sydney told Rachel that she was attracted to her and was still in love with her after all the time they were apart. _

_However, the declaration of love was short lived as a man came up behind Rachel's shocked expression and wrapped his arms around her in a relationship-like gesture. Her heart was broken and Rachel remained unaware of the man, until he slowly lead her away from Sydney. At that moment, Sydney thought she lost Rachel all over again. _

_That was until she walked into the woman's bathroom to find Rachel sitting on the couch that was in the waiting area of the room. As quickly as it came it was gone, and so was Rachel. The blond woman ran out of the bathroom after giving Sydney a passionate kiss to find her daughter and get a ride home from the mysterious man. _

_As Sydney sat speechless on the couch that Rachel had once occupied, she did not notice Isabel or Carrie washing there hands, nor did she notice their quick retreat. Carrie did go back to her side once Isabel was with Jack and the boys and Rachel had left with her own daughter. Sydney felt the love leave her again. _

_The next time that Isabel meet Max was a few months later at the beach. She was still shy around the Marshall's boys; Logan and Connor (not sure of their real names so I made them up), so she stuck by her mother and grandfather in the beginning. The boys tried to get her to join them in the water with the other APO kids but she quietly refused. _

_When lunch was set out, she felt a pair of hands wrap around her eyes. They were too small to be an adult's hand, and she did not think the boys would be that friendly with her because she did not know them well. "Boo" Max whispered into her ear as she let go and sat down next to her and Logan. _

"_Took you awhile" Carrie commented as Rachel approached the group. Pulling out her tongue, Rachel sat down after saying kissing everyone on the check. Rachel and Sydney did not speak of the last time they meet, nor did Carrie or Isabel. _

"_You know, if you stick out you tongue out long enough the wind will change" Sydney commented, handing Marshall the tray of sausages. _

"_Better put it some use then, shouldn't we Sydney?" Rachel sniggered back before she realized what she had said. All the adults had stopped their actions and looked at the red faced blond and the speechless former-spy. _

_Marshall dropped his fork in the process of putting the meat on his plate, Carrie had started to choke on her water, Jack had removed his glasses to clean them and Slone had turned to look at the water that was behind him in order to hide his smirk. _

"_I think that means she wants your food, Aunt Sydney," Logan said, smiling at her and showing her his gapped teeth. Smiling down at the boy, Sydney and the other's resumed back to their activities and talk about the rest of the day. _

_Halfway through her meal, Sydney decided to act bold. Consequently, she slipped her hand under the table and onto Rachel's knee to give a little squeeze. Unfortunately some things never worked out as planned, and the brunette had given her thigh a vice-like-squeeze instead. Due to Rachel being half-way through her sentence when talking to Carrie, she let out a sound that was mixed between a sequel, a moan and a cough to cover it up. _

_Hiding her smile behind an plastic plate, Sydney felt a force push the plate into her face gently. Removing the plate, Sydney turned towards Rachel to realize that she was under attack. She also realized that she was covered in ketchup though the smell before she felt it. Not going down with out a fight, she picked up the spicy-chili sauce with a free hand and smudged it on the offending girl's face. Before she could move however, a food fight had broken out across the table. Amongst the kids, Sydney noticed that it was the boys verse the girls and they were easily out-numbered. Pulling together as a team, the girls ran after all the boys and sought victory. _

"_We won?" one of the former desk girl's asked, whipping whipped cream off of her face and her red-ish brown hair. _

"_Yup" confirmed Rachel before she realized that she was once again, alone with the brunette that she still had a tiny crush on. "Where'd they all go?" she asked. _

"_Finish their lunch" Sydney answered with a roll of her eyes, "lets join them" she added before wrapping an arm around Rachel's shoulder's and leading them to the table. _

"_Vampire!" Max exclaimed, as they approached. _

"_Vampire's don't exist" a girl across the table called across at them. A few girls agree and soon all the girls were agreeing that vampire were stupid. _

"_I like them, though" Max said in a huff. _

"_Me too, but I don't like them killing people" Isabel agreed. The tiny girls eyes lit up once again, the look of joy spread across her face as they begun to babble about movies and magical creatures that were cool even though they didn't exist, and soon the boys had joined in with them. Which was why there was looks of jealousy written across all the other girl's faces as all the boys wanted to talk to Isabel and Max instead. _

"_Wow, can I keep you?" Rachel asked as she helped Sydney put the used plastic plates in a garbage bag. _

"_Only if you want," Sydney said without a hint of playfulness in her voice, she was very serious at that moment. She knew that seeing Rachel again had a positive affect on her, and she did miss the girl terribly. On the other hand she was unsure about how blunt she should be with the blond, in fear of scaring her away. _

"_I haven't seen her so happy since last year, when her father passed…" Rachel trailed off. Sydney did not want to pry, knowing that Rachel would tell her when she was ready and the time was right. _

_Later on in the day, Sydney and Isabel were having a water fight against Connor and Marshall, when all of a sudden Sydney stopped dead. "Syd?" Marshall asked, noticing the way her body tensed and her head snapped towards the shore. "What's' wrong?" _

"_Did you just hear that?" she questioned, as the kids too put their water gun-ammunition down by their sides. Marshall gave her a questioning look, and followed her gaze towards the shore as well in hope that he could understand what she was talking about if he looked in the same direction. All he saw was Slone and Max running around on the shore, it seamed natural. _

"_Did you hear what Max called Slone?" Sydney asked, turning her gaze to the smaller man. Isabel looked at her mom whilst she tried to figure out what her mom was getting at, since Connor had run back to his mom to get a drink. _

"_Grandpa?" Marshall asked, still not seeing her point. _

"_Yes" she stated. Noting that he was not bothered with it, she proceeded; "since when does she call Slone, Grandpa?" _

"_Since she was little, at first he tried to ignore it but the tiny girl is persistent, just like her father. Everyone just runs with it though, she calls everyone she loves Aunt or Uncle. Hell, even Jack is called Grandpa on occasion" _

"_Her father?" Isabel asked. _

"_Yeah, but it's not my place to tell" _

"_Marshall?" Sydney question but he shook his head, "Marshall? Please tell us, shouldn't I have a right to know?" at this Sydney paused. _Why do I want to know? It is not my place to question it. I wonder why he is not here though,_ she thought. _

The helicopter door opened, as the female medic pulled the girl out of the seat and onto a gurney, which then was followed by her partner putting a mask on her face to make sure she was breathing properly.

Pacing the floor outside the doctor's clinic, Isabel made a call to APO to tell Dixon the news. After all, he was still chief after all the years. "Dixon, its Agent Vaughn… Agent Grace is okay, just a bit of bleeding… I did not see the man until he hit her... (a long pause)… they said I can take her after they bandage her up… no, I'll call home" she said to her Uncle before hanging up. The doctor came out of the small room a few seconds later and said they were just helping her change into other clothing but she was fine.

The car ride home was a long trip, and Dixon had given them 32 hours of freedom before they had to come into work. The song on the radio reminded her of growing up… ("I loved her first" by Heartland)…

_Look at the two of you dancing that way_

_Lost in the moment and each other's face_

_So munch in love that you're alone in this place_

_Like there's nobody else in the room_

Sydney placed a CD into the stereo to block out the quiet as she unpacked boxes that Marshall, Dixon, Slone and her father had brought into her new home in LA the day before. A while ago, Rachel and she decided to move-in together since the blond woman was getting longer office hours at APO and there was not anyone besides Carrie to take care of Max after school.

Isabel and Max both gave surprising outbursts when the topic was brought up at the dinner table in Rachel's old apartment. The girls had grown quite close and neither woman thought their would have been a hint of them not liking the idea.

Moving swiftly around the house, Sydney begun to hum along with the tune. Feeling arms wrap around her waist, she lent into the touch to see Rachel smiling down at her, but before she could enjoy the moment, a scream came from on the room's upstairs.

"Mom! I can't find the Dracula bed!" Max yelled, and whipped her eyes with her fist since it was hay-fever season.

"Dracula?" Sydney asked, as both woman stopped in the doorway. Isabel poked her head out of the room and slowly eased her way in to sit on the mattress that was lying on the floor along two walls.

"Kikistos's beds… do not ask about the names, her father and her share a weird bond," Rachel pointed at Sydney. "I should really stop her from watching vampire and werewolf movies" she pondered, but snapped out of her thoughts by Sydney's voice.

"Dracula is a bed?" Rachel nodded, "and Kikistos is a … what?" Sydney pondered.

"Dog, kinda like the devil-dogs" Isabel answered, "She told me about it the other day" she ended with a shrug.

_I was in love with her not that long ago_

_I was her number one she told me so_

_And she still means the world to me, jus so you know_

_So be careful when you hold my girl_

Rachel moved to sit next to Isabel and held her hand whilst Max begun pulling out the contents of the closest box. Curling up on Rachel's side, Isabel gave a smile as she watched Kikistos and her small cat; Jinx come into the room, side-by-side.

"Here Jinx" she called as the gray cat moved towards her. As she fell onto her lap she asked, "Rachel, are you like a new mommy?"

Rachel's eyes became wide with fear as Isabel's innocent question shut down all her brain activity and her innocent eyes looked at her with nothing but love. Quirking an eyebrow, she looked up at Sydney and then at Max who had tipped out the whole content of the box and sat inside of.

Sydney done nothing as to give her confirmation or an answer, but as the brunette woman pulled her daughter out of the box and moved to sit in front of her with the tiny girl in her lap she knew her answer. Afraid of words, she gave a nod before being attacked by Isabel as she wrapped her arms possessively around her waist.

_Time changes everything life must go on_

_And I'm not going to stand in your way_

The four female's sat in the medium sized room until the song came to an end… but she had the disc on repeat so no one made any indentation of moving.

_I loved her first_

_I held her first_

_And the place in my heart will always be hers_

_From the first breath she breathed when she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

Jack had come by the house the next day with Slone for a new home dinner. Isabel did not understand why anyone would celebrate the day, but she had a chance to spend the day with her Grandfather and Slone, so she made no comment.

"Granddad, why does Max call you Grandpa and call Slone Grandpa too?" she wondered, as they sat on the lounge room floor playing monopoly.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I don't mind it," Jack answered with a smile until he saw that she had a frown on her face. "Do you mind her calling me Grandpa?"

"Nope" she replied, moving her token. Jack briefly wondered if she was unhappy but soon realized that the only reason that she had a frown on her face was because she hadn't passed "GO!" in the past four turns. He have a chuckle as her eyes lit up and Slone gave her "$200" from passing "GO!"

Max had curled up against Slone's torso as they both sat watching cartoons and half-paying attention to the game. "Can I call you Grandpa too, Slone?" Isabel asked after she made her way around the board again and put the racecar on the blue tile. "Can I buy Mayfair?" she asked to which Jack nodded and gave her the card in a swap for money.

"Jack?" Slone seamed to ask for permission, with a nod from the other man he smiled and kissed the top of Isabel's head, "of course".

_And I prayed that she would find you some day_

_But its still hard to give her away_

_I loved her first_

The next memory that Isabel had was at her school play. She had taken the lead role of Cinderella, and her whole family was there to watch. Hiding behind the curtain until it was her turn to walk on stage, Isabel could see Dixon with the camera and a wide grin on his face before he had an argument with a teacher about blocking people's view even though there was no one behind him.

"Who's the lady next to your mom?" her best friend Delinda asked, as she was going to enter the stage by her side.

"My other mom" was the blank reply. Some kids in her class tease her, but it never bothered her. Especially because she had a lot of friends and they did not mind.

"Cool, both my moms are on the other side of the room" her friend replied before they were shuffled onto the stage. Isabel felt a little braver and more confident knowing her best friend did not mind her home-lifestyle.

As she delivered her lines to the other students and audience, Isabel briefly forgot her next line. Turing her gaze to the audience and making a couple of movements so it looked as though she did not forget her lines, Isabel caught Rachel's face. Rachel was mouthing the words, to which Isabel said aloud. After that encounter the rest of the play went along smoothly.

_How could that beautiful woman with you _

_Be that same freckle face kid that I knew?_

_The one that I read all those fairy-tales to_

_And tucked into bed all those nights_

The next memory was her 10th birthday party. Playing in the park with her friends, her sister, as well as Logan and Connor. Isabel was exited as she saw her Grandpa Jack come towards her with a birthday cake.

As everyone sung to her, Isabel wondered what she wanted for her birthday. She had friends, she was popular, and Sydney never went away for long amounts of time. At that point she felt a little down, she looked down the left side of the table to Max's face.

Rachel was not there today and she had not seen her in two long months. She knew that Max missed her and so did her mom, but she knew it was not the same. APO had given Rachel a deep cover mission that was delayed, which was meant to end six weeks ago.

Her mom was sad when Rachel went away, and so was she but Max was worse. At times she was unbearable; not eating or talking for hours or days, starring off into space or not spending time with her unless she was looking out the window. Rachel was not allowed to call home on the current mission, so Max got worse everyday.

Isabel knew that Max was putting on a mask to hid her emotions and in some ways she was grateful. The singing ended and Isabel gave one last look at her mom and sister.

_And I knew the first time that I saw you with her_

_It was only a matter of time_

_I loved her first_

_I held her first_

_And the place in my heart will always be hers_

Blowing out all the candles, Isabel looked rapidly around the moment she opened her eyes. Jack knew instantly what his oldest granddaughter wished for; to see Rachel. He looked around as well, realizing that for the first time in months that Sydney and Max were not the same. He had not realized how much Rachel's departure had meant to them both, and silently cursed Dixon for giving her the assignment, but on the other hand he was proud that Isabel was capable of making such a selfless act at her age.

"Mom!" Isabel yelled as she jumped away from her chair and ran towards a blond figure, but no one could see her face, just that the woman had blond hair. As Isabel ran towards the woman, she felt all the happiness return to her. Her mom would be happy again, Max would be happy again, she would be happy again and they would be a family again.

"Isabel, happy birthday sweetheart" Rachel quietly sung in her ear as she twirled the girl in her arms. Setting her down as they walked down the hill in the park and towards the group, Rachel handed Isabel her present and stopped to watch her as she unwrapped it.

"Mom!" Max yelled, finally able to see the figure. Wasting no time she had partially knocked Rachel off her feet.

"Sorry I took so long baby" Rachel whispered into her ear, and held her daughter in her arms as Sydney approached. After a quick kiss and a grossed out sound from both girls, the three woman looked down as Isabel had finally taken the wrapping off. "I wanted to make it difficult for you," Rachel defended herself, as she noticed Isabel's tongue hanging outside her throat in order to unwrap the present. Isabel triumphantly held her present in the air before running to show her friends that her mom got her the latest "Dance, Dance" game from Europe. It had not even come out in the US yet.

_From the first breath she breathed when she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

_And I prayed that she would find you some day_

_But it's still hard to give her away_

The next memory pulled at her heartstrings as Isabel watched as her sister's figure fell into the distance as they left her outside the campgrounds. She had begged both her parents to let her go to camp but they said that they both needed their independence.

"I had independence for eight years before I meet her" Isabel scoffed, from the back seat of the SUV as the campgrounds fell into the mountain figure.

Sydney gave a look towards her daughter as they drove back home. "I thought you wanted time away from her?" Sydney poked.

"I'm 13 years old, I need two days without her… not two months!" she complained.

"Your mom's gone away for a month too, you didn't give this much of an argument," Sydney noted, remembering when Rachel had left with Dixon earlier that morning.

"She's my sister" Isabel scoffed, wondering why her mom was not getting why it was not the same, "I promised!"

"Promised who?" Sydney asked as she turned down the radio.

_I loved her first_

_From the first breath she breathed when she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

_Someday you might know what I'm going through _

_When a miracle smiles up at you_

"Grandpa Slone and Grandpa Jack" she stated as though the answer was obvious, but Sydney did not know of the promise and briefly wondered why she did not. "I'm supposed to protect people who are younger, who are family, especially Max"

"Why Max?" Sydney asked, her mind instantly going back to her SD-6 training.

"Grandpa Jack said that's what siblings do, they protect each other against everything, but-" and the she but herself off.

"Isabel, I want to know why you made this promise. I'm not upset or angry just wondering why" Sydney said as calmly as possible. She remembered seeing the kids at the Institution doing a program similar to "Project Christmas" when they went away for the summer and were not activated until they were older.

"Grandpa Jack and Uncle Dixon and Grandpa Slone think that Max is going to work for APO when she's older. I want to be her advisor..." Isabel failed to remember the last of the memory.

_I loved her first… _

In the present time, Isabel pulled into the driveway and briefly wondered why neither herself or Max had moved out. Opening the door, she was welcomed with a somewhat disturbing sight. After a couple of minutes, Sydney came to the door and opened it, shortly after Isabel had closed the door.

"She's bruised, minor cuts, didn't see the bad guy hit her… we won and doctor said she will be okay" Isabel said with closed eyes, as she pushed herself and Max further into the house and away from her mother.

"What were they doing?" Max asked her, but gave a small "o" sound when she looked at Rachel. "We need to move out" she stated before limping to the bench to ease herself up and give her legs a less jelly-like feel.

"What did I say about sitting on the bench?" Rachel asked, moving to get her an ice pack out of the freezer.

"What is the rule about making out with no cap on the door handle?" Max shot back, which earned Sydney a glare from both women as she gave a small snort.

"So real estate is high," Isabel mused, trying to ease the tension after her mother threw an ice pack at Max's head. "Since mom isn't part of APO anymore its okay to leave mom at home by herself," she added.

"I was part of APO and I can handle myself," Sydney snapped.

"But you a bit out of wack, sweetheart" Rachel said quietly before making her way down the hall and into their room.

Suppressing a groan and an urge to chase after the blonde, Sydney smiled "Real estate huh? When do we ship you out?" she asked in a sarcastic yet hopeful tone.

Sydney could not help but to think about what it would be like to live by herself with Rachel again, well minus the baby bump. She begun to remember the time when the girls did go away….

The end.

Let me know if you want more….


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